An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
or
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.
Editorials
Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, usually written by the senior editorial staff or publisher of the publication, in which case the opinion piece is usually unsigned and may be supposed to reflect the opinion of the periodical. In major newspapers, such as the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and the ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Gl ...
'',
Opinion The Boston Globe
/ref> editorials are classified under the heading "opinion."
Columns
Other opinion pieces may be written by a (regular or guest) columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...
. Such pieces, referred to as "columns", may be strongly opinionated, and the opinion expressed is that of the writer (and not the periodical). However, not all columns are opinion pieces; for example, columnists may write columns that are nonsensical
Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous. Many poets, novelists and songwriters h ...
and solely intended for their humour
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor ( American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
istic effect.
Op-eds
An op-ed (abbreviated from "opposite the editorial page") is an opinion piece that appears on a page in the newspaper dedicated solely to them, often written by a subject-matter expert, a person with a unique perspective on an issue, or a regular columnist employed by the paper. Op-eds may be solicited by the editorial staff, but may also be submitted by the author for publication. Although the decision to publish such a piece rests with the editorial board, any opinions expressed are those of the author. A letter to the editor
A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional ma ...
is a common example of this.
See also
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Notes
Further reading
*
External links
Example of editorial policy
How to Write an Op-ed or ColumnClassic Op-Ed StructureThe Op-Ed ProjectHow to Write an Op-Ed video
Newspaper content
Opinion journalism
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